How to Get 18,000 Clicks in Four days (at £0.02 per click)

Back in May 2013 you may have noticed that your Gmail account started looking more organised. Google enabled users to group their emails into different categories which appeared as different tabs (primary, social and promotions etc.).

Following this, Google rolled out a beta product called Gmail Sponsored Promotions*. The product allows customers to be targeted according to keywords mentioned in their emailssee below for a live example of a teaser ad and the email:

While we whitelisted a number of our clients for the beta, we were particularly excited for our retail clients as the additional exposure came at the busiest time of the year in Q4.

We set up the campaign targeting key audiences, which in this case was anyone between the ages of 18 to 64, living in the UK, excluding the domain of our client.

There was also an option to set up separate targeting options, similarly to Facebook advertising. These included keywords, competitor domains and purchases. We were able to be quite specific in regards to what search terms would lead people getting an advert in their emails. We were also able to target the customers of competitors fairly extensively. It’s also worth bearing in mind that a strong call to action or offer for this activity is a must.

We were only live for four days, due to the finalisation of the beta being so close to our delivery deadline prior to Christmas. However, the results speak for themselves: